How to Create the Perfect Insurance Agency Logo

Friday is guest post day at InsuranceSplash and today’s guest is Avery Manko from The Manko Company.

Do you have a great logo?

I’d be willing to bet that a lot of insurance agents would say that a great insurance logo needs to be “creative” and “memorable”.

While these criteria are true, having a creative and memorable logo for  your agency doesn’t mean that it will look great when it’s reproduced on a printed item.

​A logo that prints well will enhance your agency’s brand while a logo that does not print well is practically worthless and may hurt your brand.

Since I started in the printing and promotional products business in 1990, I’ve printed everything for insurance agents – from business cards to whoopi cushions – and most of these items are imprinted with an agency logo.

I’ve printed millions of items and I’ve worked with 1,000’s of logos.  Some of the logos printed well; others looked awful!

Here are the characteristics of a great logo that will increase the chances it will print well. If you don’t have a logo and you’re hiring a designer to create one for you, insist on the following:

1) The logo must be designed black and white first.

Once you have something that looks good to you, add the color (or colors) later. There are times when you’ll need to have the logo printed in black or a single color due to cost restrictions. If the logo works in black and white, you’ll have more options on how it’s reproduced later.

2) The logo needs to be visible at just about any size.

This may seem like a simple idea but I’ve seen logos that look great at one size then almost indistinguishable when reduced by 25%.

3) The logo should be solid colors.

And not contain any shading, gradients, screens or halftones. For example, the logo should not have black that fades into gray. This effect cannot be printed on some items while on others it can ratchet up the costs.

4) If you have a multiple color logo, make sure the colors do not touch one another.

If the registration is off (i.e.: the alignment of the colors) when the item is printed, it will be very noticeable. Also, touching colors sometimes makes it difficult to reproduce the logo in one color when necessary.

5) Avoid thin lines and fine details.

The best logos do not have fine details. They are difficult to reproduce.

6) Lastly, make sure you get all your logo files and information.

When you have a professional graphic designer create your logo, make sure you get the “native vector files”, the PMS colors of the logo and the names of the fonts used in your logo and the fonts in your logo are “outlined”.

Perhaps what I just said is jargon to you, but it’s a language your designer will understand and should be able to provide these files to you.

If your designer doesn’t know these terms and cannot provide these files to you, find a new designer.

By the way, when you get these files, you most likely will not be able to open them. These files require design software to open them and use them. Simply save them to a drive and email them when requested.

In conclusion:

Over the course of many years or decades, your clients and prospects are going to see your agency logo on hundreds or thousands of places. And you’ll pay thousands of dollars for marketing materials and promotional products featuring your agency logo. Take the time early in the process to make sure your logo is as good as it could be to make sure you get the maximum benefit out of every use of your logo.

About the Author:

Avery Manko is the owner and founder of The Manko Company, a promotional products distributor that specializes in helping insurance agents. He offers a lot more than great products, prices, and service. Working with Avery you get an experienced and knowledgeable insurance promotional products consultant. Connect with Avery on LinkedIn.

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